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Vanadium Oxide Microbolometers with Patterned Gold Black Or Plasmonic Resonant Absorbers

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Vanadium Oxide Microbolometers with Patterned Gold Black Or Plasmonic Resonant Absorbers University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2015 Vanadium Oxide Microbolometers with Patterned Gold Black or Plasmonic Resonant Absorbers Evan Smith University of Central Florida Part of the Physics Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Smith, Evan, "Vanadium Oxide Microbolometers with Patterned Gold Black or Plasmonic Resonant Absorbers" (2015). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 1404. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/1404 VANADIUM OXIDE MICROBOLOMETERS WITH PATTERNED GOLD BLACK OR PLASMONIC RESONANT ABSORBERS by EVAN M. SMITH B.A. Physics, Drew University, 2007 M.S. Physics, University of Central Florida, 2012 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Physics in the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2015 Major Professor: Robert E. Peale © 2015 Evan Smith ii ABSTRACT High sensitivity uncooled microbolometers are necessary to meet the needs of the next generation of infrared detectors, which seek low power consumption and production cost without sacrificing performance. Presented here is the design, fabrication, and characterization of a microbolometer with responsivity enhanced by novel highly absorptive coatings. The device utilizes a gold-doped vanadium oxide film in a standard air bridge design. Performance estimations are calculated from current theory, and efforts to maximize signal to noise ratio are shown and evaluated. Most notably, presented are the experimental results and analysis from the integration of two different absorptive coatings: a patterned gold black film and a plasmonic resonant structure. Infrared-absorbing gold black was selectively patterned onto the active surfaces of the detector. Patterning by metal lift-off relies on protection of the fragile gold black with an evaporated oxide, which preserves gold black’s near unity absorptance. This patterned gold black also survives the dry-etch removal of the sacrificial polyimide used to fabricate the air-bridge bolometers. Infrared responsivity is improved 70% for mid-wave IR and 22% for long-wave IR. The increase in the thermal time constant caused by the additional mass of gold black is a modest 15%. However, this film is sensitive to thermal processing; experimental results indicate a decrease in absorptance upon device heating. Sub-wavelength resonant structures designed for long-wave infrared (LWIR) absorption have also been investigated. Dispersion of the dielectric refractive index provides for multiple overlapping resonances that span the 8-12 μm LWIR wavelength band, a broader range than can be achieved using the usual resonance quarter-wave cavity engineered into iii the air-bridge structures. Experimental measurements show an increase in responsivity of 96% for mid-wave IR and 48% for long-wave IR, while thermal response time only increases by 16% due to the increased heat capacity. The resonant structures are not as susceptible to thermal processing as are the gold black films. This work suggests that plasmonic resonant structures can be an ideal method to improve detector performance for microbolometers. iv To my wife and two beautiful children v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost I wish to thank Dr. Peale for his constant guidance and support in my research. He has showed me what it means to be a professional experimental physicist, and guided me to all of the opportunities I have taken advantage of in my professional career. He has also showed me how to write a professional quality paper. Most importantly, he has demonstrated that learning is a lifelong process, and that the purpose of graduate school is not so much to learn facts, but gain the skills to teach yourself in the future. I am very grateful for the experience of working with such a great advisor. I would also like to thank my committee members: Dr. Saiful Khondaker, Dr. Adrienne Dove, and Dr. Glenn Boreman, for their advice and wisdom. In particular, I appreciate the support and interest Dr. Boreman has showed me and my research, as he made it a point to meet with me when he has visited Central Florida. I also want to thank Dr. David Shelton and Dr. James Ginn for their guidance and support of my work, both in my efforts towards graduation and in my work through Plasmonics, Inc. I appreciate the opportunity to work for such a great company during my tenure at UCF. I also want to acknowledge my coworkers at Plasmonics, Dr. Andrew Warren, Dr. Christopher Long, Joshua Perlstein, Pedro Figueiredo, Nathan Post, KatyAnn Cassidy, Natalie Concors, Alex Dillard, and Robert John. Without your assistance this work would have not been completed. I want to thank my lab mates in Dr. Peale’s group: Dr. Deep Panjwani, Dr. Janardan Nath, Dr. Farnood Khalilzadeh-Rezaie, Dr. Imen Rezadad, Javaneh Boroumand, and Mehmet vi Yesiltas. Particularly, thanks to Deep and Janardan for the assistance in developing the gold black and metamaterials absorbers that are the crux of this dissertation. I would like to thank everyone involved in the UCF physics cleanroom, particularly Seth Calhoun and Guy Zummo. Everything that I know about servicing and maintaining high- tech equipment I learned from Guy Zummo. He has been very integral in my education while at UCF. The work in this dissertation has been funded by Plasmonics, Inc., though a grant from Army Research Labs SBIR program, W911QX-13-C-0013. Many thanks to my parents for supporting me and my family through this time, and for always believing in me. Thanks especially to my father for discussing my research and taking the time to look through this dissertation. I am grateful to my many friends have supported me in this effort, including my family at First Alliance Church (Chad, Lonnie and Charlie in particular) as well as emotional support from Pastor Craig Hofer through our weekly meetings. I would like to express my deepest gratitude and thanks to my wife, Abby, for going through this process with me and putting up with me. This dissertation is as much yours as it is mine. You have stood beside me in all of this, and given me the confidence and motivation to complete this work. Thanks as well to my two children, Kinnebrew and Elliott, who were always there to remind me of the more important things in life. No matter how difficult the day may have been, it was always made better by coming home and hearing a joyful cry of “Daddy!” vii Above all else, all glory and praise goes to God through Jesus Christ, without Whom there would be no infrared physics to study. In this long and at times trying process, He has been my strength when I was weak, my endurance when I was tired, my wisdom when I lacked it, my confidence when I failed, and my joy when I could see none. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ xv ACRONYMS AND ABBREIVIATIONS ....................................................................... xvi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS ............................................... 8 2.1 Blackbody Radiation Theory .................................................................................... 8 2.2 Responsivity ............................................................................................................ 10 2.2.1 Temperature Coefficient of Resistivity ........................................................................ 10 2.2.2 Thermal Considerations ............................................................................................... 11 2.2.3 Responsivity of a Microbolometer ............................................................................... 16 2.3 Noise Considerations .............................................................................................. 17 2.3.1 Johnson Noise .............................................................................................................. 18 2.3.2 Thermal Fluctuation Noise and Background Fluctuation Noise .................................. 20 2.3.3 1/f Noise ....................................................................................................................... 22 2.3.4 Total System Noise ...................................................................................................... 24 2.4 Optimization Techniques ........................................................................................ 27 2.4.1 TCR and Resistivity ..................................................................................................... 28 2.4.2 Thermal Conductance................................................................................................... 29 2.4.3 Absorptance .................................................................................................................. 32 2.5 Measurement Techniques ......................................................................................
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